Norfolk State's Pendarvis Williams named Boxtorow HBCU D-I Player of the Year

Norfolk State guard Pendarvis Williams (11) draws a foul as he is blocked by Virginia forwards Evan Nolte, right, and Darion Atkins, left, during the first half of a first-round NIT college basketball game in Charlottesville, Va., Tuesday, March 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

For the second-straight year the Boxtorow HBCU Division Men's
Basketball Player of the Year Award went to a player from Norfolk State (Va.)

Last season, it was forward Kyle O'Quinn, who led the Spartans
to a Mideastern Athletic Conference title and upset of then No. 2 Missouri, the
Big 12 champs, in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This season, it's
6-foot-6 guard Pendarvis Williams, who'll be taking the honor home.

The junior averaged 14.3 points and 4.5 rebounds to lead NSU
to 21-12 record and an appearance in the National Invitational Tournament on
his way to being named MEAC Player of the Year.

He's joined on the Boxtorow first-team by three players from
the Southwestern Athletic Conference and an NBA prospect. The group includes Southern
scoring guard Derrick Beltran, the SWAC's third-leading scorer. The Jaguars won
a conference title and nearly shook up the world tying top-seeded Gonzaga with
three minutes before being denied the right to become the first No. 16 seed to
outs a No. 1, Texas Southern's guard Omar Strong and forwardFred Sturdivant,
Bethune Cookman's Adrien Coleman and Tennessee State's Robert Covington.

Strong was second in the league in scoring, averaging 17
points per game as TSU won the regular season SWAC title but was barred from
postseason play due to NCAA infractions. Sturdivant was second in the league in
rebounding behind Alabama A&M's Demarquelle Tabb with 8.2 boards per game.

Covington, a 6-foot-9, 204-pound forward averaged 17 points
and eight rebounds as a senior and is
seen as a second-round draft choice by some.